Browse by topic: Press release, Standards, Vans

Filters:

The Environment Committee of the European Parliament will vote next week on noise limits for vehicles. The compromise proposal put forward by the lead MEP has been drafted by sports car manufacturer Porsche.

Electric Vehicle (EV) sales in Europe doubled in 2015 to 145,000 new sales;
Europe is the second biggest EV market in the world;
Renault-Renault is the world’s biggest producer of battery electric cars;
Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV the biggest selling model in Europe;
Netherlands and Norway lead the pack in sales.

As Dieselgate turns one year old, a new study by Transport & Environment (T&E) reveals that Volkswagen is currently selling the least polluting (Euro 6) diesel vehicles. Nonetheless, the marque caught cheating in the US also has the most grossly polluting Euro 5 vehicles on the road, which ​were sold between 2011 ​​and 20​15​. ​The better performance of Volkswagen Euro 6 cars​ has ​nothing to do with the Dieselgate, but ​with better technology choices made before the scandal burst. The report Dieselgate: Who? What? How? also found that not one single brand complies with the latest air pollution limits (‘Euro 6’) for diesel cars and vans in real-world driving.

The announcement of new CO2 standards for cars, vans and, for the first time in Europe, trucks forms the centrepiece of the EU’s strategy for low-emission mobility and has been welcomed by Transport & Environment (T&E) as a meaningful step in the fight against climate change. But the Commission’s plan is completely devoid of ambition on cutting emissions from aviation and shipping, the sustainable transport group said.

Carmakers will have to provide more realistic fuel economy figures for their new cars as of 2018 thanks to the introduction of a new CO2 laboratory test (WLTP – Worldwide harmonised Light Vehicles Test Procedure). Sustainable transport group Transport & Environment (T&E) welcomes the decision reached last night between member states, the European Commission and the European Parliament.

The European Commission today published a proposal to improve the system for national authorities approving cars to be sold in all 28 EU member states. Sustainable transport group Transport & Environment (T&E) welcomes the Commission’s constructive and timely attempt to bring into line carmakers who, for decades, have actively undermined the approval system circumventing regulation and damaging public health, safety and the climate.

New cars, including the Mercedes A, C and E class, BMW 5 series and Peugeot 308, are now swallowing around 50% more fuel than their lab test results, new on-the-road results compiled by Transport & Environment (T&E) reveal. The gap between official and real-world performance found in many car models has grown so wide that it cannot be explained through known factors including test manipulations. While this does not constitute proof of ‘defeat devices’ being used to fiddle fuel economy tests, similar to that used by Volkswagen, EU governments must extend probes into defeat devices to CO2 tests and petrol cars too.

Eco-driving technology that will save motorists €30 to €50 year today received the backing of MEPs who called for mandatory fuel consumption meters for all new cars, vans and trucks. The European Parliament’s environment committee overwhelmingly voted for the meters to be fitted and permanently visible in all new vehicles from 1 January 2019, leading to fuel efficiency gains of 2-3% per year.

Europe can only meet the climate targets Heads of State agreed on for sectors outside the Emissions Trading System (ETS) if it sets fuel efficiency standards for new cars, vans and lorries by 2025 or earlier, a new study by Transport & Environment (T&E) reveals [1]. In a middle-of-the-road scenario where transport would cut CO2 emissions by 30% by 2030 [2], the study found that CO2 standards for all vehicles (cars, vans and lorries) in 2025 and 2030 would deliver a whopping 42% of the emissions reduction required from transport.

Earlier this week, Violeta Bulc, the EU’s head of transport, announced plans to develop a Europe-wide scheme to charge lorries and cars for using roads. Bulc clarified that the scheme would be optional, meaning that countries like the UK could opt out if they want to. The Transport Commissioner also stressed that the amount of the fee should be based exclusively on the distance driven and should not be time-dependent, which would bolster more efficient use of roads.